The original science and research news platform. AI to zoology. Deep space to brain-gut axis. Join the conversation at
ScienceBlog.com! (Also, subscribe at
scienceblog.substack.com)
Hidden Galaxy Harbors Organic Chemistry Factory
THE NUCLEUS of galaxy IRAS 07251-0248 sits buried beneath such vast amounts of gas and dust that conventional telescopes can barely glimpse what's happening inside. Hardly the sort of place you'd expect to find abundant organic molecules. The…
Hidden Galaxy Harbors Organic Chemistry Factory
THE NUCLEUS of galaxy IRAS 07251-0248 sits buried beneath such vast amounts of gas and dust that conventional telescopes can barely glimpse what's happening inside. Hardly the sort of place you'd expect to find abundant organic molecules. The material absorbs most of the radiation blasting from the central supermassive black hole, creating a cosmic fortress that's kept its secrets remarkably well.
The Hormone That Rewrites Pain
THE MICE WITH lumbar spine instability shouldn't have been moving much. Their vertebrae, surgically destabilized to mimic the kind of degeneration that afflicts millions of people with chronic back pain, had developed the telltale signs of the condition: porous,…
The Hormone That Rewrites Pain
THE MICE WITH lumbar spine instability shouldn't have been moving much. Their vertebrae, surgically destabilized to mimic the kind of degeneration that afflicts millions of people with chronic back pain, had developed the telltale signs of the condition: porous, sclerotic endplates and an invasion of pain-sensing nerves into tissue where they don't belong. But after two months of daily hormone injections, they were running on their activity wheels, tolerating pressure on their spines, and withdrawing more slowly from heat.
City Lights Are Messing With Sharks’ Internal Clocks
The nurse sharks swimming through Miami’s glowing coastal waters at night aren’t getting much sleep. Their blood tells the story: melatonin levels suppressed, circadian rhythms disrupted, all because the city never really goes dark. For the…
City Lights Are Messing With Sharks’ Internal Clocks
The nurse sharks swimming through Miami’s glowing coastal waters at night aren’t getting much sleep. Their blood tells the story: melatonin levels suppressed, circadian rhythms disrupted, all because the city never really goes dark. For the first time, researchers have measured the hormone in wild sharks and found that artificial light is throwing their biological ... Read more The post City Lights Are Messing With Sharks’ Internal Clocks appeared first on Wild Science.
Tiny Dinosaur Rewrites 70 Million Years of Evolution
The bones were so small that at first glance they looked like they might belong to juveniles. But Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes reckoned otherwise. Scattered across the Burgos Province site in…
Tiny Dinosaur Rewrites 70 Million Years of Evolution
The bones were so small that at first glance they looked like they might belong to juveniles. But Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes reckoned otherwise. Scattered across the Burgos Province site in northern Spain, the delicate fossils represented at least five individuals—all adults, all impossibly tiny for dinosaurs. ... Read more The post Tiny Dinosaur Rewrites 70 Million Years of Evolution appeared first on Wild Science.
Bat Caves In Cambodia Hide Clues To A Pig Pandemic’s Mysterious Origins
The Battambang bat caves draw tourists from around the world. Each evening, thousands of bats pour from the limestone cliffs in swirling clouds, a spectacle that fills the Cambodian sky. What visitors don’t see is the…
Bat Caves In Cambodia Hide Clues To A Pig Pandemic’s Mysterious Origins
The Battambang bat caves draw tourists from around the world. Each evening, thousands of bats pour from the limestone cliffs in swirling clouds, a spectacle that fills the Cambodian sky. What visitors don’t see is the invisible cargo these flying mammals carry, a sprawling viral universe that researchers are only beginning to map. Between 2020 ... Read more The post Bat Caves In Cambodia Hide Clues To A Pig Pandemic’s Mysterious Origins appeared first on SciChi.
How the 2024 Election Changed Who Wants a Gun
In the first weeks of January 2025, Michael Anestis and his team at Rutgers University's New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center were watching something unexpected unfold. The same adults they'd surveyed just before the November election were reporting…
How the 2024 Election Changed Who Wants a Gun
In the first weeks of January 2025, Michael Anestis and his team at Rutgers University's New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center were watching something unexpected unfold. The same adults they'd surveyed just before the November election were reporting changed intentions around firearms. Not the usual suspects, either - the demographics were shifting in ways that challenge decades of assumptions about who owns guns and why.
The Fish That Saved Two Million Dollars
Jean Giacomotto had 18 days to find an answer. Two newborns, one in Australia, one in Germany, carried genetic mutations nobody had seen before. Each baby also carried a known deadly mutation for spinal muscular atrophy, making them prime candidates for…
The Fish That Saved Two Million Dollars
Jean Giacomotto had 18 days to find an answer. Two newborns, one in Australia, one in Germany, carried genetic mutations nobody had seen before. Each baby also carried a known deadly mutation for spinal muscular atrophy, making them prime candidates for treatment. But the novel mutations were wildcards, and without knowing whether they were harmful, ... Read more The post The Fish That Saved Two Million Dollars appeared first on Wild Science.
The Fungus Munching Through Mountains Of Toxic Waste
In a laboratory at Nanjing Agricultural University, a common soil fungus is doing something chemical engineers have struggled with for decades. Aspergillus niger, the same organism that helps ferment soy sauce and produces citric acid for fizzy…
The Fungus Munching Through Mountains Of Toxic Waste
In a laboratory at Nanjing Agricultural University, a common soil fungus is doing something chemical engineers have struggled with for decades. Aspergillus niger, the same organism that helps ferment soy sauce and produces citric acid for fizzy drinks, is quietly dissolving phosphorus from one of the world’s most problematic industrial wastes. The waste is phosphogypsum, ... Read more The post The Fungus Munching Through Mountains Of Toxic Waste appeared first on SciChi.
New Technique Unlocks Gene Therapy for Hundreds of Conditions
Gene therapy just leapt past a barrier that’s held it back for years. Researchers in China have worked out how to pack oversized genes into the viral delivery vehicles that doctors use to treat genetic diseases, a trick that could…
New Technique Unlocks Gene Therapy for Hundreds of Conditions
Gene therapy just leapt past a barrier that’s held it back for years. Researchers in China have worked out how to pack oversized genes into the viral delivery vehicles that doctors use to treat genetic diseases, a trick that could unlock treatments for hundreds of conditions previously considered untreatable. The breakthrough centres on adeno-associated viruses, ... Read more The post New Technique Unlocks Gene Therapy for Hundreds of Conditions appeared first on SciChi.
Whales Share Resources to Survive Climate Change
Off Canada’s coast, in the cold waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, something extraordinary is quietly happening. Three species of baleen whales—creatures so massive they seem to belong to another era—are changing what they eat. They’re doing it…
Whales Share Resources to Survive Climate Change
Off Canada’s coast, in the cold waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, something extraordinary is quietly happening. Three species of baleen whales—creatures so massive they seem to belong to another era—are changing what they eat. They’re doing it together, shifting their feeding patterns as the ocean warms. But this isn’t the violent competition you ... Read more The post Whales Share Resources to Survive Climate Change appeared first on Wild Science.
AI Is Making Scientists Stars While Dimming the Light of Discovery
Imagine you’re a PhD student named Leo. You have two choices. You could spend the next five years in a dusty basement lab, trying to figure out a “weird” question about how the very first molecules of life sparked into existence.…
AI Is Making Scientists Stars While Dimming the Light of Discovery
Imagine you’re a PhD student named Leo. You have two choices. You could spend the next five years in a dusty basement lab, trying to figure out a “weird” question about how the very first molecules of life sparked into existence. There’s no data to help you, the experiments often fail, and your peers might ... Read more The post AI Is Making Scientists Stars While Dimming the Light of Discovery appeared first on NeuroEdge.
Arctic Whales Use Genetic Insurance To Prevent Extinction
The ice in Bristol Bay closes down hard by November, locking away the whales for months in the icebound waters beneath it. When researchers finally arrive in spring with their small boats and biopsies, they’re after something most people…
Arctic Whales Use Genetic Insurance To Prevent Extinction
The ice in Bristol Bay closes down hard by November, locking away the whales for months in the icebound waters beneath it. When researchers finally arrive in spring with their small boats and biopsies, they’re after something most people never think about: who’s sleeping with whom, and what it means for survival in one of ... Read more The post Arctic Whales Use Genetic Insurance To Prevent Extinction appeared first on Wild Science.
The Creativity Threshold: When AI Meets the Average Mind
Picture a task so simple it takes four minutes. Generate ten words. That’s all. Make them as different from each other as possible, in every way that matters (meaning, usage, the way they sound in the mouth). This isn’t a test you’d find in…
The Creativity Threshold: When AI Meets the Average Mind
Picture a task so simple it takes four minutes. Generate ten words. That’s all. Make them as different from each other as possible, in every way that matters (meaning, usage, the way they sound in the mouth). This isn’t a test you’d find in an IQ exam or written into the competitive frameworks that sort ... Read more The post The Creativity Threshold: When AI Meets the Average Mind appeared first on NeuroEdge.
The Science of the Pause: Computational Mapping Reveals the Hidden Engineering Behind Stand-Up Comedy
The comedian takes a breath, counts to three in her head, and delivers the punchline about hippies managing finances. Laughter ripples through the Edinburgh venue, timing out at roughly 2.4…
The Science of the Pause: Computational Mapping Reveals the Hidden Engineering Behind Stand-Up Comedy
The comedian takes a breath, counts to three in her head, and delivers the punchline about hippies managing finances. Laughter ripples through the Edinburgh venue, timing out at roughly 2.4 seconds before she continues. Tomorrow night, different audience, she'll pause for 2.6 seconds in the same spot. Next week it might be 2.2 seconds, but the pause will be there, predictable as clockwork, even if the laughter isn't.
The Cigarette Butt Supercapacitor
Eight million tonnes of cigarette butts are tossed onto streets and into bins worldwide each year. Most decompose glacially slowly, leaching toxins as they go. But what if this ubiquitous waste could power your phone? Researchers in China have transformed…
The Cigarette Butt Supercapacitor
Eight million tonnes of cigarette butts are tossed onto streets and into bins worldwide each year. Most decompose glacially slowly, leaching toxins as they go. But what if this ubiquitous waste could power your phone? Researchers in China have transformed discarded cigarette filters into carbon supercapacitors with performance that rivals commercial activated carbon. The trick ... Read more The post The Cigarette Butt Supercapacitor appeared first on SciChi.
Gene Loss in Early Pancreatic Tumors May Predict Deadly Outcomes
Pancreatic cancer kills quietly. By the time symptoms appear, the disease has usually spread beyond surgical reach. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science have now identified a gene whose early disappearance helps explain why…
Gene Loss in Early Pancreatic Tumors May Predict Deadly Outcomes
Pancreatic cancer kills quietly. By the time symptoms appear, the disease has usually spread beyond surgical reach. Researchers at Tokyo University of Science have now identified a gene whose early disappearance helps explain why some tumors turn lethal so fast. The gene, CTDNEP1, shows significantly reduced activity even in stage I tumors. That's unusual. Most pancreatic cancer biomarkers emerge late, when treatment options narrow.
Artificial Empathy and the Future of Lonely Recovery
Stroke patients grinding through repetitive arm exercises know the look: a therapist checking the clock, mentally calculating how many more patients need attention before shift end. That glance, however brief, changes the room. Healthcare…
Artificial Empathy and the Future of Lonely Recovery
Stroke patients grinding through repetitive arm exercises know the look: a therapist checking the clock, mentally calculating how many more patients need attention before shift end. That glance, however brief, changes the room. Healthcare systems worldwide are hemorrhaging staff faster than training programs can replace them, and researchers are asking whether machines might fill not ... Read more The post Artificial Empathy and the Future of Lonely Recovery appeared first on SciChi.
A Persistent Hum Might Help Clear Alzheimer’s Plaques—For Weeks
Families watching Alzheimer’s take hold have heard promises before. But what if the answer wasn’t a drug or surgery, but a sound—a low, steady drone at the pitch of a refrigerator hum? Inside a research lab in China, nine aged rhesus…
A Persistent Hum Might Help Clear Alzheimer’s Plaques—For Weeks
Families watching Alzheimer’s take hold have heard promises before. But what if the answer wasn’t a drug or surgery, but a sound—a low, steady drone at the pitch of a refrigerator hum? Inside a research lab in China, nine aged rhesus monkeys sat near speakers emitting 40-hertz tones for an hour each day. After just ... Read more The post A Persistent Hum Might Help Clear Alzheimer’s Plaques—For Weeks appeared first on SciChi.
Natural Light Sharpens Blood Sugar Control in Diabetes Patients
People with type 2 diabetes who work near windows show steadier blood glucose levels than those under artificial lighting, according to research that tracked volunteers through identical daily routines under different light sources.…
Natural Light Sharpens Blood Sugar Control in Diabetes Patients
People with type 2 diabetes who work near windows show steadier blood glucose levels than those under artificial lighting, according to research that tracked volunteers through identical daily routines under different light sources. The findings suggest something as mundane as office design could influence how well the body manages sugar. Scientists from the University of Geneva and Maastricht University measured metabolic outcomes in 13 older adults with type 2 diabetes across two 4.5-day sessions.
One Night of Sleep Data Can Predict Your Disease Risk Years Ahead
The next time someone hooks you up to a sleep study, those sensors tracking your brain waves and heartbeat may not just be looking for snoring problems. They could be capturing something far more revealing: a physiological signature…
One Night of Sleep Data Can Predict Your Disease Risk Years Ahead
The next time someone hooks you up to a sleep study, those sensors tracking your brain waves and heartbeat may not just be looking for snoring problems. They could be capturing something far more revealing: a physiological signature that can forecast whether you’ll develop Parkinson’s disease, suffer a heart attack, or face dementia, sometimes years ... Read more The post One Night of Sleep Data Can Predict Your Disease Risk Years Ahead appeared first on NeuroEdge.
Maternal Stress Rewires Fetal Brains Along Sex-Specific Lines
The developing mouse brain is a construction site where millions of neurons migrate to final positions, guided by molecular signals that act like cellular GPS. But when a mother's immune system flares or her gut bacteria get wiped out,…
Maternal Stress Rewires Fetal Brains Along Sex-Specific Lines
The developing mouse brain is a construction site where millions of neurons migrate to final positions, guided by molecular signals that act like cellular GPS. But when a mother's immune system flares or her gut bacteria get wiped out, that guidance system malfunctions, and it malfunctions differently in male versus female embryos. New spatial mapping reveals the exact locations where these sex-specific disruptions occur, pointing to a single pathway that may explain why neurodevelopmental conditions skew heavily male.
Worms Organize Their World Without Thinking About It
Watch a centimeter-long aquatic worm wiggle through a dish of scattered sand, and something peculiar happens. The grains gradually gather into compact piles. The mess disappears. It looks intentional, except the worm has no brain worth…
Worms Organize Their World Without Thinking About It
Watch a centimeter-long aquatic worm wiggle through a dish of scattered sand, and something peculiar happens. The grains gradually gather into compact piles. The mess disappears. It looks intentional, except the worm has no brain worth mentioning and cannot sense the particles it is moving. Physicists from the University of Amsterdam, Georgia Tech, and Sorbonne ... Read more The post Worms Organize Their World Without Thinking About It appeared first on Wild Science.
Green Hydrogen Just Got Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels, Thanks to Sugar
For years, the price of clean hydrogen has stubbornly remained three to five times higher than the carbon-heavy version made from natural gas. That gap has kept the hydrogen economy theoretical rather than practical. A new…
Green Hydrogen Just Got Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels, Thanks to Sugar
For years, the price of clean hydrogen has stubbornly remained three to five times higher than the carbon-heavy version made from natural gas. That gap has kept the hydrogen economy theoretical rather than practical. A new solar-powered system that replaces half the chemistry in water splitting has just closed that gap entirely, producing green hydrogen ... Read more The post Green Hydrogen Just Got Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels, Thanks to Sugar appeared first on SciChi.
China’s Fusion Reactor Breaks Density Ceiling That Has Limited Tokamaks for Decades
Fusion plasmas have been hitting the same density wall for 40 years. Push the fuel concentration too high and the reactor fails within seconds, ending the shot in a cascade of instability. That empirical limit,…
China’s Fusion Reactor Breaks Density Ceiling That Has Limited Tokamaks for Decades
Fusion plasmas have been hitting the same density wall for 40 years. Push the fuel concentration too high and the reactor fails within seconds, ending the shot in a cascade of instability. That empirical limit, known as the Greenwald density, has been one of fusion’s most frustrating constraints, because the denser the plasma, the more ... Read more The post China’s Fusion Reactor Breaks Density Ceiling That Has Limited Tokamaks for Decades appeared first on SciChi.
Your Muscles Keep Their Own Molecular Calendar
Forensic investigators examining unidentified remains face a stubborn problem: traditional age markers fade or mislead. Skeletal muscle, though, quietly archives its own history in chemical annotations that survive death and degradation. The first…
Your Muscles Keep Their Own Molecular Calendar
Forensic investigators examining unidentified remains face a stubborn problem: traditional age markers fade or mislead. Skeletal muscle, though, quietly archives its own history in chemical annotations that survive death and degradation. The first muscle-specific epigenetic clock designed for Asian populations emerged from autopsy tissue collected in South Korea: 103 pectoralis major samples from individuals aged 18 to 85. Published November 26 in…
Brain Model Discovers Neurons That Reliably Predict Mistakes
About 20 percent of neurons in a learning brain seem to be doing something counterintuitive. When these cells become more active, mistakes follow. A new computational model of the brain, built to mirror real neural circuits rather than…
Brain Model Discovers Neurons That Reliably Predict Mistakes
About 20 percent of neurons in a learning brain seem to be doing something counterintuitive. When these cells become more active, mistakes follow. A new computational model of the brain, built to mirror real neural circuits rather than optimize performance, stumbled onto this pattern while learning a simple visual task. Only then did researchers realize ... Read more The post Brain Model Discovers Neurons That Reliably Predict Mistakes appeared first on NeuroEdge.
Ferromagnet Mimics Superconductor in Quantum Computing Surprise
Electrical current flowing through a junction of vanadium and iron produces unusually loud static. That noise, orders of magnitude stronger than expected, reveals something remarkable: iron behaving like a superconductor even though…
Ferromagnet Mimics Superconductor in Quantum Computing Surprise
Electrical current flowing through a junction of vanadium and iron produces unusually loud static. That noise, orders of magnitude stronger than expected, reveals something remarkable: iron behaving like a superconductor even though it isn't one. The finding, published in Nature Communications, confirms decades-old theories about how superconductivity can leak across barriers and induce quantum behavior in unlikely materials. Researchers measured the electrical fluctuations, called shot noise, in devices made of vanadium separated from iron by a thin magnesium oxide layer.
This Herbal Formula Did What Most Kidney Drugs Don’t: Reverse Damage
Most treatments for diabetic kidney disease aim to slow decline. Improvement is rare. Patients take their pills, track their numbers, and watch their kidney function gradually worsen despite therapy. The goal is damage control,…
This Herbal Formula Did What Most Kidney Drugs Don’t: Reverse Damage
Most treatments for diabetic kidney disease aim to slow decline. Improvement is rare. Patients take their pills, track their numbers, and watch their kidney function gradually worsen despite therapy. The goal is damage control, not restoration. A randomized clinical trial in China suggests that calculation may need updating. Researchers testing a traditional multi-herb formulation found ... Read more The post This Herbal Formula Did What Most Kidney Drugs Don’t: Reverse Damage appeared first on SciChi.
The Big Bang — a good theory while it worked
Since 1964, the Big Bang has been the context for interpreting all of astronomy. The theory has been troubled since 1997 by observations that don’t fit the model. That was the year that accelerating expansion was documented. The most recent observation…
The Big Bang — a good theory while it worked
Since 1964, the Big Bang has been the context for interpreting all of astronomy. The theory has been troubled since 1997 by observations that don’t fit the model. That was the year that accelerating expansion was documented. The most recent observation is that All of Creation is rotating. We don’t even know how to calculate such a thing. The blame for our 60-year universal flight from reality is not in the physics, but in a philosophic idea that goes back to Copernicus.
Bioweapons are an Abomination (and that includes “biodefense”)
Some of the greatest health problems in America are traceable to our 80-year-old bioweapons research program. These include, HIV, Lyme Disease, COVID-19, and the steady rise in cancer incidence. The US has by far the largest bioweapons…
Bioweapons are an Abomination (and that includes “biodefense”)
Some of the greatest health problems in America are traceable to our 80-year-old bioweapons research program. These include, HIV, Lyme Disease, COVID-19, and the steady rise in cancer incidence. The US has by far the largest bioweapons program of any country in the world. We should all be screaming at our elected officials to END ALL BIOWEAPON RESEARCH. The source for most of the information below is a…
Guarding Europe’s hidden lifelines: how AI could protect subsea infrastructure
EU-funded researchers are developing AI-powered surveillance tools to protect the vast network of subsea cables and pipelines that keep the continent’s energy and data flowing. By Michael Allen Thousands of kilometres…
Guarding Europe’s hidden lifelines: how AI could protect subsea infrastructure
EU-funded researchers are developing AI-powered surveillance tools to protect the vast network of subsea cables and pipelines that keep the continent’s energy and data flowing. By Michael Allen Thousands of kilometres of cables and pipelines criss-cross Europe’s sea floors, carrying the gas, electricity and data that keep modern life running. Yet these critical links lie ... Read more The post Guarding Europe’s hidden lifelines: how AI could protect subsea infrastructure appeared first on Horizon Magazine Blog.
Microbes on a mission to clean up Europe’s toxic soils
EU-funded researchers are turning to nature’s very own clean-up crew to tackle toxic industrial soil pollution. By Ali Jones Outside the mountain town of Sabiñánigo in northern Spain, an abandoned chemical factory stands on land still scarred…
Microbes on a mission to clean up Europe’s toxic soils
EU-funded researchers are turning to nature’s very own clean-up crew to tackle toxic industrial soil pollution. By Ali Jones Outside the mountain town of Sabiñánigo in northern Spain, an abandoned chemical factory stands on land still scarred by decades of Lindane production – a pesticide now banned worldwide – which left behind thousands of tonnes ... Read more The post Microbes on a mission to clean up Europe’s toxic soils appeared first on Horizon Magazine Blog.
Gene Editing Shrinks Goldenberry Into Farm-Ready Size
Goldenberries taste like a tropical vacation, which is great. The problem? They grow like weeds, which is decidedly not great if you're trying to run a commercial farm. The small fruit, wrapped in its signature papery husk, has been cultivated…
Gene Editing Shrinks Goldenberry Into Farm-Ready Size
Goldenberries taste like a tropical vacation, which is great. The problem? They grow like weeds, which is decidedly not great if you're trying to run a commercial farm. The small fruit, wrapped in its signature papery husk, has been cultivated in the Andes for centuries. But unlike its famous nightshade relatives (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants), goldenberry never quite made the leap to industrial agriculture.
Cartilage Cells Secretly Orchestrate Bone’s Blood Supply
Bones don't just grow longer. They build their own plumbing as they go, which is wild when you think about it. A new study out of China has tracked down the specific cells responsible for this hidden coordination act, and the answer involves…
Cartilage Cells Secretly Orchestrate Bone’s Blood Supply
Bones don't just grow longer. They build their own plumbing as they go, which is wild when you think about it. A new study out of China has tracked down the specific cells responsible for this hidden coordination act, and the answer involves cartilage doing a lot more than anyone suspected. The work centers on hypertrophic chondrocytes, a type of late-stage cartilage cell that's been known to contribute to bone formation.
America’s Cities Are Quietly Split by Invisible Lines
On paper, American cities look dense, dynamic, and interconnected. But where people actually go each day tells a more fractured story. A new study from University College London researchers finds that every major U.S. city is shaped by hidden…
America’s Cities Are Quietly Split by Invisible Lines
On paper, American cities look dense, dynamic, and interconnected. But where people actually go each day tells a more fractured story. A new study from University College London researchers finds that every major U.S. city is shaped by hidden patterns of separation that divide residents by income, race, and geography. Using anonymized mobile phone data from millions of people across 383 cities, the team discovered a recurring structure: rings of isolation in affluent suburbs and pockets of segregation closer to urban cores.
Polar Bears in Warmest Greenland Are Rewriting Their DNA
For most polar bears, the future looks grim. More than two-thirds face extinction by 2050 as sea ice vanishes beneath their paws. But in southeast Greenland, a small population is living through what might be a preview of survival, adapting…
Polar Bears in Warmest Greenland Are Rewriting Their DNA
For most polar bears, the future looks grim. More than two-thirds face extinction by 2050 as sea ice vanishes beneath their paws. But in southeast Greenland, a small population is living through what might be a preview of survival, adapting to conditions that resemble the devastating climate predicted for the rest of the Arctic by century's end. New research published in Mobile DNA reveals these bears are doing something remarkable at the molecular level: they appear to be rapidly rewriting sections of their own genetic code in response to rising temperatures.
Mosasaur Tooth Proves Sea Monster Hunted Rivers Too
A single dark tooth, nearly as long as your thumb, sat in a brown mudstone bed in North Dakota for 66 million years. When paleontologists finally pulled it from the Hell Creek Formation in 2022, they realized they were holding something that…
Mosasaur Tooth Proves Sea Monster Hunted Rivers Too
A single dark tooth, nearly as long as your thumb, sat in a brown mudstone bed in North Dakota for 66 million years. When paleontologists finally pulled it from the Hell Creek Formation in 2022, they realized they were holding something that shouldn't exist: proof that mosasaurs, the ocean's apex predators, were also patrolling inland rivers. The discovery, published in…
Microdosing’s Mood Boost Fades Fast, Study Shows
Microdosing psychedelics delivers a measurable lift in mood and focus, but only on the day you take it. By the next morning, the benefits have evaporated. That's the core finding from a new international study tracking more than 1,400 people who…
Microdosing’s Mood Boost Fades Fast, Study Shows
Microdosing psychedelics delivers a measurable lift in mood and focus, but only on the day you take it. By the next morning, the benefits have evaporated. That's the core finding from a new international study tracking more than 1,400 people who microdose LSD or psilocybin. Researchers at the University of British Columbia Okanagan analyzed daily self-reports from participants across 49 countries, all logging their mental state each morning through the Microdose.me project.
One Pill Could Treat 82 Million Gonorrhea Cases
Gonorrhoea is no longer a simple problem. It infects more than 82 million people globally each year, and the bacteria that cause the infection have been rapidly developing resistance to our existing drugs. This relentless evolution has created a…
One Pill Could Treat 82 Million Gonorrhea Cases
Gonorrhoea is no longer a simple problem. It infects more than 82 million people globally each year, and the bacteria that cause the infection have been rapidly developing resistance to our existing drugs. This relentless evolution has created a quiet, but massive, public health crisis. The current standard treatment is a complicated two-step process, and doctors need a simpler, more effective weapon that can bypass the existing resistance.
Tiny Chip Opens the Door to a Million-Qubit Quantum Future
Imagine a computer so powerful its essential control components take up an entire warehouse. Not just one room, but a massive space filled with dozens of optical tables. That's the reality for one of the most promising types of quantum…
Tiny Chip Opens the Door to a Million-Qubit Quantum Future
Imagine a computer so powerful its essential control components take up an entire warehouse. Not just one room, but a massive space filled with dozens of optical tables. That's the reality for one of the most promising types of quantum machines right now. To scale up quantum computing from a few experimental bits to a practical machine with millions of qubits, scientists must first figure out how to shrink that warehouse down to the size of a postage stamp.
Election Meddling Is for Sale, and the Price Spikes Just Before You Vote
We tend to imagine election interference as a high-tech operation run by shadow agencies in bunkers. But in reality, influencing a national vote often comes down to something much simpler: the ability to pretend to be a…
Election Meddling Is for Sale, and the Price Spikes Just Before You Vote
We tend to imagine election interference as a high-tech operation run by shadow agencies in bunkers. But in reality, influencing a national vote often comes down to something much simpler: the ability to pretend to be a neighbor. To spread rumors effectively on a community group chat, a bad actor cannot look like an outsider- they need a local phone number.
Fifty Years of Pop: How Music Became Simpler and More Stressed
You remember those summer afternoons. The car windows were down. The radio was humming a perfect, catchy tune. Maybe it was a Fleetwood Mac jam from 1977. Or maybe it was a synth-pop groove from 1985. The song may have been about…
Fifty Years of Pop: How Music Became Simpler and More Stressed
You remember those summer afternoons. The car windows were down. The radio was humming a perfect, catchy tune. Maybe it was a Fleetwood Mac jam from 1977. Or maybe it was a synth-pop groove from 1985. The song may have been about heartbreak, but the melody was light. The lyrics were simple. The whole experience felt undeniably bright. This breezy pop soundtrack once defined a huge slice of American music.
Impossible Planet Is A Wet Lava Ball Under Blazing Old Star
In planetary science, a fundamental rule dictates that time and proximity are killers. When a world orbits too closely to its star for billions of years, the stellar wind and radiation are supposed to strip it bare. All its atmosphere,…
Impossible Planet Is A Wet Lava Ball Under Blazing Old Star
In planetary science, a fundamental rule dictates that time and proximity are killers. When a world orbits too closely to its star for billions of years, the stellar wind and radiation are supposed to strip it bare. All its atmosphere, all its volatile material, should be blasted away, leaving behind nothing but a scorched, desolate cinder. Yet, the exoplanet TOI-561 b flagrantly defies this logic.
Why Certainty Makes Us Suckers for Fakery
The modern information landscape is a jungle of facts and lies. Every day, our feeds push claims about the world's biggest mysteries. Secret global power plays. Health advice "they" are hiding. It is tempting to grab a simple answer that makes sense of the…
Why Certainty Makes Us Suckers for Fakery
The modern information landscape is a jungle of facts and lies. Every day, our feeds push claims about the world's biggest mysteries. Secret global power plays. Health advice "they" are hiding. It is tempting to grab a simple answer that makes sense of the chaos. But why does one person swallow a sketchy story while another hits the brakes? Intelligence matters less than you'd think.
The Paradox of Green Finance: When Good Intentions Stall Reform
The trillion-dollar world of socially responsible investing (SRI) is built on a high ideal: use capital to drive positive change. Many SRI funds specifically target companies with significant pollution or social problems-the so-called…
The Paradox of Green Finance: When Good Intentions Stall Reform
The trillion-dollar world of socially responsible investing (SRI) is built on a high ideal: use capital to drive positive change. Many SRI funds specifically target companies with significant pollution or social problems-the so-called "dirty" firms-with the goal of acquiring a stake and forcing reforms. The strategy is simple: put your money into the bad company to make it good. However, a groundbreaking theoretical study from finance professors at the University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins University, and the Stockholm School of Economics suggests this noble approach may be critically flawed.
Engineers Remove Analog Bottleneck From Next-Gen Probabilistic Computing
For a decade, the promise of probabilistic computing has been overshadowed by a single, physical bottleneck: the need for bulky, power-draining analog control circuits. This technology relies on hardware elements, called…
Engineers Remove Analog Bottleneck From Next-Gen Probabilistic Computing
For a decade, the promise of probabilistic computing has been overshadowed by a single, physical bottleneck: the need for bulky, power-draining analog control circuits. This technology relies on hardware elements, called p-bits, that naturally fluctuate between 'one' and 'zero,' allowing systems to efficiently solve optimization and inference problems that baffle traditional computers. Yet, to fine-tune that chaotic flipping, p-bit designs have required a component known as a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC).
Engineered Immune Cells Restore The Prime Of Life To Old Guts
As we get older, our digestive systems lose their resilience. A meal we once enjoyed might become a source of discomfort. This isn't merely a consequence of age; it's often a sign that the intestinal epithelium, the single, crucial…
Engineered Immune Cells Restore The Prime Of Life To Old Guts
As we get older, our digestive systems lose their resilience. A meal we once enjoyed might become a source of discomfort. This isn't merely a consequence of age; it's often a sign that the intestinal epithelium, the single, crucial layer of cells lining the gut, is failing to repair itself. Normally, this lining completely regenerates every few days. When that vital process slows or stops, chronic inflammation sets in, leading to problems like leaky gut syndrome.
Webb Captures Universe’s Earliest Star Death And It Looks Familiar
When the cosmos was a mere infant, 730 million years young, a massive star violently ended its life. This cataclysmic event, observed by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, is now the earliest and most distant supernova ever…
Webb Captures Universe’s Earliest Star Death And It Looks Familiar
When the cosmos was a mere infant, 730 million years young, a massive star violently ended its life. This cataclysmic event, observed by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, is now the earliest and most distant supernova ever directly detected. It pushes the boundary of stellar observation deep into the universe's past, breaking Webb's own previous record. Yet, the profound surprise wasn't its distance, but its familiarity.
How Supercomputers Finally Learned to Manage Their Own Memories
Supercomputers, capable of performing a quintillion calculations per second, represent the cutting edge of modern science. Yet, despite this staggering power, their work is often hamstrung by a single, critical bottleneck: getting the…
How Supercomputers Finally Learned to Manage Their Own Memories
Supercomputers, capable of performing a quintillion calculations per second, represent the cutting edge of modern science. Yet, despite this staggering power, their work is often hamstrung by a single, critical bottleneck: getting the right data to the right place at the right time. For applications running on government systems like the Frontier supercomputer, the speed of memory access is no longer a secondary concern; it is the main barrier to faster scientific breakthroughs.
Prairie Strips Revive Dead Soil in Just a Decade
Iowa's corn and soybean fields stretch to the horizon, an agricultural empire built on intensely managed dirt. For years, soil scientists assumed restoring degraded farmland would take generations, maybe centuries. The deep layers change too slowly,…
Prairie Strips Revive Dead Soil in Just a Decade
Iowa's corn and soybean fields stretch to the horizon, an agricultural empire built on intensely managed dirt. For years, soil scientists assumed restoring degraded farmland would take generations, maybe centuries. The deep layers change too slowly, they thought. But new research from Iowa State University just blew that timeline apart. The fix? Narrow bands of native prairie plants tucked right into the crop fields.
